Sneak peak of Atlanta's streetcar vehicle

[Cirrus]

This was posted to Reddit this morning:




The line is under construction now and is scheduled to open next year. Here's a map:

[Nexis4Jersey]

Looks like a Light Rail car then a streetcar...

[mfastx]

Wow, I didn't even know about this. Pretty cool..

And yes, that does look like a pretty big streetcar, lol.

[fflint]

That's pretty slick--who is the manufacturer?

I'm glad the streetcar is under construction. It will add to the reach of MARTA.

[Busy Bee]

Looks like a United Streetcar based off the Czech Inekon platform.

[M II A II R II K]

One of the signs on the truck says Siemens.

And it turns out it is Siemens. Called S70 model.

[Beta_Magellan]

S70’s seem like overkill for what’s essentially a ground-level people mover.

[atlantaguy]

Thanks for posting this Cirrus - I personally think it looks sexy as hell.

This is indeed our first streetcar, and the final assembly plant is in the northern suburb of Alpharetta (Siemens has a huge presence here, with several divisional HQ's for North America located in the metro, the majority in Alpharetta).

And Beta Megallen - Just an fyi, but this is just our "starter line." These cars will eventually be used across the city, including The Beltline which is already under construction. The Beltline is pretty much under the radar nationally, but it has often been described as the most transformative urban renewal project in the U.S. The same folks that are responsible for the Highline in NY are heavily involved in the overall design, as just one example.

http://beltline.org/

[N830MH]

Originally Posted by mfastx

Wow, I didn't even know about this. Pretty cool..

And yes, that does look like a pretty big streetcar, lol.

Yeah, this is so awesome! I like it lots.

[jd3189]

Cool. This should help Atlanta become more transit-oriented in its downtown.

[tdawg]

Will the recent sales tax defeat slow Beltline construction?

[shivtim]

^The 1% sales tax would have greatly sped up Beltline transit construction. Now it's just back to the original schedule and original funding source.

[eleven=11]

is this streetcar similar to the new one in ft lauderdale ???
also is that new atlanta train depot still funded ...

[Cirrus]

Ft Lauderdale probably hasn't picked a vehicle yet, but their website shows the Portland model, which comes from a different manufacturer but is kind of similar.

[Busy Bee]

Yeah that's your standard Inekon/Skoda and now United Streetcar (Oreg. Iron Works) model. As much as I applaud ALL of these streetcar efforts I'd like to see the US start rolling some cars are as slick as what you'd see in... gasp, Greece...


x

[eleven=11]

actually the green streetcar & the blue streetcar look pretty good.
i like em both.

[llamaorama]

The S70 is used by a lot of light rail systems. Houston, Norfolk, Portland, San Diego, Salt Lake, Charlotte, etc. Aesthetically they come in a few flavors. Houston and Portland's have longer front ends, Charlotte, Norfolk and San Diego's mid-2000s addition have the open coupler. This one with the snub front is similar to Salt Lake and San Diego's newest fleet additions.

I thought the Portland streetcar was tiny inside(saw it when one came to Austin for a urban rail publicity thing). I've used the light rail in Houston and the trains are long enough to have ramps instead of steps.

[Cirrus]

You know, I like the more restrained American look better, honestly. That Greek tram (and the many French ones people like to talk about) are awkward to me. They're trying too hard.

That said, I'll take any of them over the ye olde trolley look that New Orleans uses.

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by Cirrus

That said, I'll take any of them over the ye olde trolley look that New Orleans uses.

I don't mind running the actual vintage cars... it's the reproductions that I can't stand, especially because the design can't really accommodate A/C and handicap access without all sorts of weird modifications.

[Cirrus]

My big problem with them is that they send the message that transit isn't serious transportation, but rather is a theme park ride that you take the kids on to show them what the olden days were like.

You can get away with it in a city like San Francisco where the vintage stuff is totally surrounded by modern vehicles, where you know the old ones are there to add a touch of fun. But in places like Tampa it's a big mistake.

New Orleans is kind of in-between.